Saturday, October 23, 2010

Here's where Georgia needs to worry a bit. Yes, it's still up by 18 points, even after Kentucky finally struck - on a 35-yard touchdown pass by Mike Hartline.

Still, 28-10 was the same score Kentucky was down by last week at the half. And we know how that turned out.

The Bulldogs also aren't quite out-classing the Wildcats. The three fumbles and long kickoff return are the difference.

Georgia's pass offense has been tepid so far, and the one time the offense didn't have a short field, they had to punt. Kentucky, on the other hand, just hasn't been able to hold onto the ball.

All that makes it a more interesting second half than it normally would be in a 28-10 game.

6:42 left in second quarter, Georgia now leads 28-3

I had posted the previous item JUST as Georgia got yet another big break. And yet another fumble.

This time Georgia's defensive players didn't have to do anything but pounce on the loose ball, which came out after a muffed pitch. Justin Houston recovered the fumble at the Kentucky 5.

Three plays later, Washaun Ealey scored for the third time tonight. The play stood up under review, perhaps because the replay crew didn't have a good goal-line angle. The Kentucky fans, as biased they may be, certainly disagreed with the call.

So now we sit here at 28-3 with time left in the first half. My Kentucky writer friend, Brett Dawson, didn't believe the Wildcats would have a third straight rally in them this week if they got down again. That's about to be tested.

8:55 left in second quarter, Georgia still leads 21-3

Even when Georgia's offense can't convert, things still end up peachy for the team.

Punter Drew Butler, who was probably checking his Blackberry up until now, came on for his first punt and did about as well as humanly possible: A 56-yarder that bounced out at the 3.

Oh, and because Kentucky wasn't pinned enough, a holding penalty forced it back half the "distance" to the goal-line.

The one worry Georgia should have - other than Kentucky's comeback ability - is that its offense hasn't really done much yet. It hasn't had to, yes, but it may need to at some point.

13:04 left in second quarter, Georgia now leads 21-3

Georgia is threatening to run away with this one. Based on the past couple Kentucky games, don't look for the Bulldogs to take the pressure off. (Assuming they can.)

Washaun Ealey scores his second touchdown of the game. And it's always impressive when a tailback, on a goal-line carry, can finish the run standing up.

The Bulldogs are doing it with the running game so far, and all Ealey, who has 39 rushing yards on nine carries.

Not that they're not trying to get A.J. Green involved. All three pass completions have gone to Green. He has three catches for 25 yards, all basically on screens.

But the story remains how Georgia is creating chances for itself, via the two fumble recoveries, holding on a fourth down and Brandon Boykin's kick return touchdown.

2 comments:

Where's the aggressiveness with the ball at our 35 with 3 timeouts and 65 seconds? We're playing not to lose. That attitude from the coaches trickles down to the players. I swear, if our coaches could kneel every play in the 2nd half, they'd be happy.

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About the Author

Seth Emerson has been covering the SEC and Georgia (on and off) since 2002. He worked at the Albany Herald from 2002-05, then spent five years at The State in Columbia, S.C., covering South Carolina. He returned to Athens in August of 2010, only to find that David Pollack and David Greene were no longer playing for the Bulldogs. Adjustments were made.

Emerson is originally from Silver Spring, Md., and graduated from Maryland in 1998 with a degree in journalism and a minor in getting lost on the way to practically everywhere. Then he spent four years at The Washington Post, covering small colleges, a couple NCAA basketball tournaments, and on one glorious day, was yelled at by Tony Kornheiser. It was probably at The Post that he also learned to write in the third person.

These days he lives in Athens with his beloved and somewhat wimpy dog, Archie. Together they fight crime at night in northeast Georgia, except on nights there is no crime, in which case they sit at home, sip on white wine and watch reruns of "Mad Men."